Catchfence

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 4, 2009) – With only two races remaining in the Sprint Cup Series ‘regular season’ Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 team find themselves locked in an intense points battle as they look to maintain their perfect streak of making the Chase for the Cup in each of its six seasons of existence.

Kenseth’s Record in last two races before Chase cutoff

	2 to Go Position	Calif.	Rich.	2 race Avg.	Pts Into Chase	Final Pts
2004	5	22	28	25	5	8
2005	11	7	2	4.5	9	7
2006	2	7	8	7.5	1	2
2007	4	7	14	10.5	8	4
2008	10	5	39	22	11	11

Kensenth enters this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 12th position in the point standings; the final slot before the cutoff mark. He leads the hard charging Kyle Busch (13th position) by only 34 points and 14th place Brian Vickers by just 39 points with only two races remaining before the cutoff.

“I honestly have not been that worked up about making the Chase,” said Kenseth. “Really we have not performed all that well at times this season and getting that better has to be our focus. We have to get more competitive on the track and start running up front more; running like we are capable of. It’s been getting better, but we still have to improve.”

Kenseth is one of only two drivers to qualify for the Chase in each of its first five years. The other, Jimmie Johnson, is a virtual lock to keep that stat alive, but Kenseth will have his work cut out for him if he is to accomplish the feat.

This marks only the third time in the last six seasons that Kenseth’s Chase qualification has been in any reasonable doubt moving into the final two events. In 2005 the Cambridge, Wis. native found himself on the outside looking in at 11th position (only 10 drivers qualified for the Chase that season) as the series headed to California Speedway (from 2004-2008 the series traveled to California and then Richmond before the cutoff, before moving Atlanta into that date this season).

With the pressure turned up, Kenseth and the No. 17 team responded with finishes of seventh and second at California and Richmond in 2005 to move into the Chase in ninth position. In fact the 4.5 average-finish in 2005 is Kenseth’s career best in the two race span that closes out the regular season.

In those two pressure races over the last five seasons, Kenseth has compiled two top five and six top 10’s in 10 starts, with an average finish of 13.9. In the two previous seasons where his status was in any doubt, he responded with two top five and three top 10 finishes in four races.

He may likely have to improve those numbers this season if he is to go a perfect six-for-six in races to the Chase. This season’s race sees a tight battle with only 80 points separating eighth and 14th positions. The good news is while Kenseth only leads Busch by 34 markers, he trails 11th place Kasey Kahne by only 18 and he’s just 41 points out of eighth.

Kenseth however downplays any added significance with the final two races.

“All we can really do is run the best we can,” said Kenseth. “If you run better all season, you don’t really have to worry about it. The bottom line is that you are looking at 26 races from Daytona to Richmond and every race is just as important as the other. You put forth the best effort each week and you fight for every position and every point in each race the same.

“When you get down to crunch time and it’s this close, there seems to be added significance, but the bottom line is we had a chance to gain or lose points in the last 23 or 24 races. You can’t turn up the intensity because there are two races left, you have to compete at that level each week and where you end up, is where you end up.”

A more telling story for Kenseth and the No. 17 team may be their recent history at the two remaining tracks; Atlanta and Richmond. Kenseth has reeled off five top 10 finishes in the last six starts at AMS; the lone exception coming in this spring’s race when the team lost out on fuel mileage late and had to settle for a 12th-place finish.

At Richmond the No. 17 team has struggled as of late, finishing 13th there in the Spring, and only accumulating two top-10 finishes in the last six starts and no top-10’s since 2007. Kenseth has a 15.25 average finish at Richmond and Atlanta combined.

“I think they are both good tracks for us,” added Kenseth, “But this year has been such a surprise at times. We can show up at a track that is normally one of our best and be off or show up and run half-way decent at a place where we might usually struggle. All we can really do is put our best foot forward and go out and compete the best we can. After that we just have to see where it all falls.

“Basically we need to finish in front of the five cars we are racing for those spots. You can’t really put any added pressure on yourself. You do the best you can do and that’s it. You certainly don’t want to make any kind of mistake, but there are 26 races that go into who makes the Chase and these just happen to be the last two.

“We’ve been running better lately and I think we are on to a few things,’” added Kenseth. “Hopefully we can go to these next two tracks, run competitively and get ourselves into this Chase.”

Sunday night’s 500 mile race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is set for a 7:43 p.m. EDT start and will be televised live by ESPN. Prerace coverage will start at 7:00 p.m.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release